The finale (the sequel): GM’s thoughts, coach’s assessment, the Havlat conundrum — and more

SAN JOSE — Too much still in the notebook from Thursday dispersal. Can’t let it go to waste, so here’s The Finale: Part II, This Time For Sure. Take a deep breath, this goes on awhile.

****Unlike a year ago, when the Sharks stumbled into the playoffs and were out after a franchise-fewest five games against St. Louis, the mood was more upbeat and promising, from the top down.

“I could not be prouder of what they did and how they came together as a team and meshed with the identity of what we were looking for,” Doug Wilson said. “There’s a moment in Game 3 that really epitomized that. You go down to 15 players we lose Hannan, Havlat and Couture and they just keep on playing for each other. That’s the thing we’ve been striving for.”

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Wilson heads off to the scouting combine in Toronto today. Does he think his team is in better shape than it was a year ago?

“If we use this properly, yes I do,” he said. “There’s something special about this group. And I already talked to a group of the guys individually. To go through the reset we did and have some key veteran players leave out of here is an indication of the good younger players that we have underneath, and the belief they have in their coach and how we need to play.”

I’ve told friends — and Wilson himself — that he interviews like a defenseman in that he holds his ground when you’re trying to move him off point. That was the case Thursday when the topic of his response to the Raffi Torres suspension and the fine that followed came up.

Did you expect the league to fine you for that statement?

“Next question (smiling).”

But that couldn’t have caught you by suprrise?

“Next question (still smiling).”

Do players understand that rule?

“Yes, they do. And we’ll leave it at that.”

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With the league taking past history into account, does that have an impact on you resigning him?

“Appreciate all of your effort in getting me to comment. I’ll comment going forward. We look at players that play the style we want to play, that can add to this team. Do I think Raffi can? Yes I do. The other stuff. I said what I said and I’ll leave that there.”

One more thing from the general manager. The NHL salary cap is dropping from $70.2 million to $64.3 million. According to capgeek.com, the Sharks are still $8.8 million under that figure for 2013-14. Wilson said there’s no need for him to be dumping any salary between now and the fall in order to be under the new cap.

“We’re really fortunate. This is where you say, you want to make this a place where players want to play,” Wilson said. “The players have helped us with how contracts have been structured, sometimes its terms, sometimes the dollars. We have a lot of flexibility going forward, we have a lot of flexibility in two years.

“We’ve been fortunate to have players that understand what we’re trying to accomplish,” he continued. “We’re not a team that’s going to miss the playoffs for five or seven years and go into a rebuild. We don’t believe in that. We want to reset on the fly and it only works when you have players that understand what it is we’re trying to accomplish and participate in it.”

The new collective bargaining agreement does allow for a compliance buyout. The Sharks have long imposed their own payroll rules — no contracts more than five years, no front-loaded deals under the old CBA. Wilson would not discuss the likelihood of a compliance buyout, but he did say there was no internal policy banning one.

****Here’s Todd McLellan’s assessment of where things stand and how the Sharks got there:

“I guess, first of all we have to clarify, we didn’t accomplish our goal. That’s a disappointment,” he said, “but on the journey to that goal, I thought we became a grittier, faster more supportive team. We played toward our identity and grew our team in that fashion. We saw the emergence of some young players come through. We saw the older players be able to adjust to that. We think that we have a foundation set to move forward with the retooling or refresh, whatever we want to call it, of our organization.”

How much did the Torres suspension hurt?

“It hurt us. There’s no doubt about it, but excuses aren’t going to make it any better,” McLellan said. “Pavelski in that third-line center role, Raffi and Marty, the ability if that was a line, that’s a heck of a third line. When we lose Raffi, when we lose Marty, we have to fill holes in, and we felt Pav would be the right guy up on that line with Cooch and Patty. So it hurt.

“But yet, with that being said, we had guys who elevated their play. Guys that didn’t factor into a lot of games during the season, the Bracken Kearns and even James Sheppard for that matter, played pretty strong playoffs for us.”

****The topic of Marty Havlat appears to be a somewhat sensitive one with the organization. Though a groin injury limited him to just two playoff games this season (3:16 in one before being hurt, 4:52 when he tried an apparently too soon comeback), the Sharks were quick to point out that he was healthy for 71 of 72 post-season games before this year. And in those games, he had 21 goals and 52 points.

During the playoffs, McLellan made an offhand reference or two to the problem created when a player says he’s ready, but turns out not to be. No one was named.

Thursday, McLellan was asked how much the team missed Havlat’s game?

“We don’t have somebody else like him. But we have Marty Havlat,” the coach said. “Marty was brought here to excel in these situations in the playoffs. Mother Nature didn’t allow it. His injuries prevented him from playing and from being effective.

“What needs to happen there for us to have the player he believes he can be — and we believe he can be — is to get healthy, to look at some of his training methods, maybe change a few things and then to come back and start all over.

“He’s a top six player on most teams. But you can’t play when you’re hurt. That’s the biggest issue facing him.”

So did he try to come back too soon?

“First of all we have the athlete, we have the doctors and we have the training staff that all get an opportunity to review his situation,” McLellan said. “Whether he came back too soon or not I don’t know. Obviously the results would indicate yes. . . . It’s hindsight.”

Later, McLellan was asked if he wanted to see Havlat back next season, noting that there’s talk he could be a candidate for a compliance buyout, with his contract calling for another two years with a $5 million cap hit on each.

“Me as an individual, I would love to see Marty come back and play like Marty can. That’s the best way I can answer that question,” McLellan said. “If he reaches his level of play that he’s capable of getting to, we’d all be talking about him in a different frame than we are right now.”

****Much of the player comment mirrored that of the GM and coach: Disappointment, for sure, but not the gloom and doom felt this time a year ago. They know changes will be made, but optimism was far more prevalent. We won’t get into all that here.

But I’ll sift through it and find a few tidbits worth passing along.

*Joe Pavelski was asked how long it would be before he could watch another hockey game.

How long take to watch another hockey game? Turns out the answer was not very.

“I turned on the game last night,” Pavelski said, referring to the Chicago’s OT win over Detroit. “Obviously another Game 7, and you’re following it, and it’s in overtime. It’s a situation you just we’re in one, it’s so hard to lose, but it’s still an exciting place to be and an opportunity, and we had a lot of fun with Game 7. You see the excitement in Chicago when they win and the ups and downs with the goal being disallowed and all that type of stuff. You’re still aware of it.”

*Adam Burish was asked if he had gotten over the team’s elimination yet.

“You’re over it. It sucks to watch teams move on. You’re almost kind of jealous that they’re still playing and you don’t get a chance to do it,” he said. “But you move on. There’s other things you can do to keep your mind occupied, but it sucks. There’s that sense of disappointment that you’re done playing. There’s some things for this group to be proud of, and we can kind of hang on that, I guess.”

So were there positives you could take from this season, Logan Couture was asked?

“I’m just proud of the guys in here. We’re a team,” he said. “People said we weren’t going to make the playoffs. I remember watching on the NHL Network. Four guys … said we’d miss the playoffs. I came in the next day and told every single guy in this room that people were saying we’re not going to be in the playoffs. I think that lit a fire under a lot of guys on this team.

“We had an up and down year, came together in the end, worked hard in the playoffs,” Couture said. “We deserved better. We didn’t deserve to lose to LA. I thought we were the better team. It definitely hurts.”

*Dan Boyle was ready for the inevitable inquiry about that window closing.

“Oh that window question,” he said. “Well it was supposed to have been closed pretty much this year and we looked pretty good down the stretch. I don’t think the window is closed. Missing Raffi and the Pavelski (switch to second line), that whole deal, I think that hurt us a little bit. Raffi was certainly missed in that series. I’m not sure what the future brings for him and a couple of other guys. I like our chances next year. I’m hoping to be part of it again.

“Contractually a lot of us have only one year left. Changes are made every summer. There’s no guarantees that we’re all coming back. Contractually some things are going to have to happen at the end of next season but I think that we look at the team was around for the last two months and be pretty proud and be positive about that team going forward.

“Obviously I’ve made it clear this is where I want to be and this is where I want to finish my career. I still think I have a lot of miles left in me. I’m not even close to that right now. We’ll see what happens. That’s up to management. I’ve made it clear that I want to be here.”

*Scott Gomez may have been non-committal about returning to the Sharks, but he said he wants to keep playing somewhere.

“Yeah, it’s not time to hang them up, that’s for sure. I kind of got my game back,” he said. “There’s plenty of time to see what happens in the summer.”

*TJ Galiardi is a restricted free agent who didn’t mask his hopes for next season.

“I want to be here. I’m not afraid to admit it at all,” said Galiardi, who is finishing up a one-year deal that paid him a pro-rated $950,000. “I’m restricted anyway, so I think chances are I’ll be here unless something crazy would happen.

“Ever since I’ve found that role and responsibility and trust of the coaches, I’ve had a lot of fun,” he said. “I think I’ve kind of found my place here and I don’t want to have to leave already.”

*Marc-Edouard Vlasic turned out to be the one player who didn’t differentiate between the playoff loss this year and the few years prior.

“It’s nothing different. Losing is losing,” he said. “We battled hard this year. . . . We battled hard to make the playoffs. We played extremely well against Vancouver, played well against LA but came up short.

“For me personally this isn’t any different from last year or the year before. We lost,” he said. “You’re not going to win every year, we know that. With the team we have in here and the players we have, we deserve a better outcome and hopefully we can win in the future. That’s what we want here in the locker room.”

We’ll end it on that note. Way too much to wade through already.

*****P.S. Thanks for the kind words after the last posting. Wasn’t fishing and tried to indicate that wasn’t the final word (for now). But the thanks and well-wishes are appreciated.

I know I’ve made it clear in the past that the lack of civility around here can be maddening at times. I also probably should make it clear that I know that only a few people are the ones aggravating the situation.
Thank you for that.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

win cup? no. never even been to the dance. one of only a few pitiful teams who haven’t.

so, let’s sum up. they are NOT making money, they are not winning when it counts, and they are a footnote in their own area…..i.e., only 1 beat writer, and most of the local media does not cover the team in any serious way, or send a reporter on the road.

looks more like the SJ Sharkies are in the few care nether land of a minor league operation.

Bickell is playing like a monster in the final year of a contract? What a coincidence.

I’d be okay with DW bringing him in to replace Galiardi. Then that line would really be the Freight Train Line.

LTNC might even approve

Robbie

Puckmastr Your crazy if you think Doug Wilson could real in either Bickell or Stalberg. Both those players want to a chance to win mulitple cups and both are good players so that eliminates them from Wilson signing them.

More in the range of a Wilson signing is David Steckel, or someone like that.

Robbie

Hondr,

I am really impressed that the trolls have not written to DP and had you banned. I know how trolls and DP love to surpress anyone who speaks negatively of the Sharks.

Robbie

Because some posters just dont get it.

Never won a confernce Title:

5) Phoenix – 32 seasons
6) San Jose – 22 seasons

Fasf97

fyi, #352, it was about never even GETTING to the finals, nevermind winning a cup. and the only teams on your list who have never been to the dance are Yotes and Guppies.

more to the point is the Calif story.

since the Sharkies were born in ’91, the LA Kings and the Anaheim Ducks have both won Stanley Cups, AND both have also been to the dance twice. SJ?? never even been there. that sums it up quite well

Stevo

And suddenly the trolls say that it’s not only about winning a Cup… what a revelation.

For them.

Fasf97

wrong, guppie troll. but they have not even gotten to the dance, so don’t get ahead of yourself

Snow Shovel

Boy, it sure looks like Jonathon Quick should go back to the minors doesn’t it? He single-handedly handed their last game to the Hawks with those two soft ones. Always knew he was WAY over rated.

2Teal4You

Looks like some of our banned buddies have returned in disguise. They sound all too familiar.

Go Chicago.

Phat Stat Phil

Snow Shovel @ 360

I agree. He’s always looked to be a beneficiary of Chris Osgood syndrome. He overcommits to low shots, kicks out rebounds, and depends on the D to keep the shots low and prevent second opportunities. In addition, it’s worth noting that Jonathan Bernier outplayed him this year.

Incidentally, I thought the same about Niemi until this season.

Stevo

Snow Shovel,

Don’t forget that epic puck handling fail Quick made behind the net against STL in OT of Gm1.
Steen won’t:)

GOALLLLLLl (against)

Snow Shovel

Niemi showed some good improvement the previous season and a lot of improvement this past season, IMHO.

Stevo, LOL. No, I didn’t forget that mis-handling of the puck. Hope that made the highlight reels!

http://WorkingtheCorners Sharkita

The first game will be a very interesting game to watch. If the Bruins continue to play as physical as they have been, I think the Hawks go down like the Pens. Hawks have more creative players but the beat down that the Bruins give is hard to over look. With that being said, I’m still going to root for the Hawks.

Wow, Sharkita. You answered to poll before I posted it! You must have ESP (not N).

Tom (fm Quinzee)

Stevo, on your #358. It’s like the old Monty Python routine where the guy goes into a place and pays for an argument. Then he goes into the wrong door and gets insulted. Then he finds the right door and all the guy does is disagree with him, regardless of what he says. It loses something in my description … I’ll try and find a like to post to it.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

And while I’m at it, I’ll also try to find a LINK to post to it…

Snow Shovel

TomQ – Boston and Boston.

Phat Stat Phil

Puckmastr @ 349

There’s a few players who could be legit second line talent for us like Ribiero, Stalberg, and Ryder. I just don’t see us being able to pull them away from their current teams. Most of them — like Horton — have established very good relations with their current clubs. The only way those break down is if they overvalue their services and it’s hard to imagine DW signing a free agent to a monster contract — and that’s even before you take into account our cap situation.

The only ones I can imagine moving and being potential targets for us are Ribiero, Ryder, Roy, Morrow, and Raymond. All but Raymond have been moved recently and Raymond hasn’t been treated very well by Vancouver. Given the small class, it’s not hard to imagine other teams spending a lot for their services.

It seems to me that everything hinges around what we do with Havlat and what we do at the draft. I see the best case as a trade of Havlat for a second line talent and a prospect or pick, but that’s remarkably optimistic. It’s likely that if Havlat stays healthy once traded, then it’s going to be an absolute steal for whoever gets him. One way or another, if we get someone who has scored 20 goals, I’d be satisfied with DW’s move.

(Note to trolls: Keep an eye on Havlat. If he stays healthy, his move is the next thing you could harp on to call for DW’s head. The change of scenery will likely artificially inflate his goal totals, due to unfamiliarity and the relatively low cost of acquisition. Start calling him Wayne Havlat or Martin Lemieux as soon as he leaves. It’s a pretty reasonable assumption that he could go on a scoring tear that could be equated to some small part of Gretzky or Lemieux’s career.)

If we solve that, then things open up a lot and we’ll have a ton of options. For instance, we might move Pavs up to fill a hole in our top 6 and look to free agency to take his place as third line center. There’s way too many possibilities and way too little information accessible to us about how that might work out.

Phil, on the FA’s, at this point Morrow’s sun is setting fast. And if you’re upset about Torres, you might not want to watch any highlight reels (sic) of Morrow during this year’s playoffs. Some ugly stuff – repeatedly crosschecking a guy who was down on the ice, and got away with it because the play left the zone. And he was never a Lady Byng candidate.

I like Ribiero if the price is right…

Stevo

Tom (in the Q) #368,

Heh, heh. The Argument Clinic is a classic, and it does mirror life at WTC..

We could do a bit – under the influence of WTC:
… “look matey, that Handzus wouldn’t “voom” if you put 4 thousand volts through him!

Phat Stat Phil

Stevo @ 376

It might not have had the memorable “pining for the fjords” line or spare vikings, but the constable hitting the guy over the head at the end has me in stitches every time. 8)

Tom @ 375

I’m not so sure about Morrow’s sun setting. He was scoring on a pace with last season — even if you just look at his stats on the Dallas Stars. That indicates that he’d be fit for a top 6 role.

As for the dirty stuff — I presume you’re referring to Cizikas — I thought it was lamentable that it escaped notice, but it’s utterly ridiculous to compare Morrow to Torres.
To the best of my knowledge, Morrow was *almost* suspended once for leaving the bench to instigate a fight. He has never been suspended or fined for a hit to the head — let alone suspended 4 times and fined 3 times.

But — we all know that Shanahan is ‘biased’ and ‘unfair’, so let’s ask youtube. I see three separate video compilations on youtube saying that Torres should be banned from the NHL. I see zero such compilations on Morrow.

Look up “Raffi Torres dirty” and you see a bunch of clips of hits to the head. Look up “Brenden Morrow dirty” and you see an interview, a goal, and a bunch of fights. I think we’ll have to give Torres the nod here as well.

Don Cherry has never called out Brenden Morrow and said that he should quit with the dirty stuff. Don Cherry *has* called out Raffi Torres.

I’ve done my due diligence here, but maybe I’m missing some part of Morrow’s play. Can you find six highlights of Morrow hitting someone in the head? I mean, it’s probably not that hard to do that for any hockey player with a decently long career.

It’s trivial to find more than six for Torres, of course. Anyway, go ahead. I’ll wait.

Naturally, it had crossed my mind that you went out of your way to bait me, but I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. Now, time — or your response — is going to tell me whether or not you were worth that largesse.

Renoshark

Robbie Troll @ 355:

Seriously, dude? Anyone banned here has been banned for non-stop imbecilic and offensive remarks(i.e. bannED). Not too hard to understand the blog decorum and rules set forth. Has nothing to do with anyone who “speaks negatively”. Troll embellishment is alive and well I see. Criticize all you want. Just mix in some facts once in awhile and try a lot less whining.

Are they completely unaware that Greiss *is* a proven backup who outplayed Niemi in the ’11-’12 season? Or that Stalock and Sateri are both known to be in excellent shape to fill the hole if need be?

My general impression from the Niittymaki debacle is that if Grosenick looks good at all, the organization would be happy to let Greiss walk and bring Stalock up.

Personally, I think that would be a shame. Greiss really is a fantastic goalie who has put in four years of NHL time behind Nabby and Niemi and deserves more starts. 2010-2011 showed that it’s unlikely that there will be competition for his services, so we could hold onto him for league minimum dollars again.

But even if we did let him walk? Stalock admittedly looked tentative and nervous in his NHL start, but he’s still coming back from missing almost an entire season due to nerve damage and (much) better people than myself have said he still shows promise.

Snow Shovel

Are Boston and Hawks playing tomorrow (Wed)? Or tonight?

Tom (fm Quinzee)

Snow Shovel – Wednesday night opener.

So far, not much love for the Hawks on my informal WTC poll. I’m keeping track of totals and names, so no stuffing ballot box.

Only 4 WTC fans voting so far:

Want the Bruins to win: 3
Want the Hawks to win: 1

Think the Bruins will win: 3
Think the Hawks will win: 1

Sharkita is rooting for the Hawks, thinks B’s will win; I’m rooting for the B’s, think the Hawks will win. Snow Shovel & Phat Stat Phil are B’s on both.

WI JP

Blackhawks beat Boston for the 1st of 4 times on Wednesday.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

Phil, I’m not defending Torres’ actions. But I’ve never seen Torres sit on a guy and repeatedly cross check the guy’s head into the ice. Which Morrow did.

The thing about Morrow being fit for a “top 6″ role, we’re discussing a guy who was an Olympian, cinch for a 1st line on any team save an all-star aggregation, etc. Not the case any more. That’s why I said the sun is setting on his career. Maybe “fast” was overstating it. But he was not that big a deal w/ the Pens.

As for Don Cherry, the vitriol you use on Raffi doesn’t come close to how I feel about Cherry, and that doesn’t even take into account his psychotic taste in clothes.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

WI JP – it’s a two-parter, I’ve got who you think will win. Actually, I believe you’re also rooting for the Hawks? Duh!

Renoshark

Tom @ 381:

Put me down for Boston. My wife is from there(Nahant actually) and that’s my favorite East Coast team.